λύω + σῶος
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
λύσσα
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
lussa
English translation (word)
rage
Transliteration (Etymon)
sôos
English translation (etymon)
to solve, to detach + safe and sound
Source
idem
Ref.
Scholia vetera in Iliadem 13.53
Ed.
H. Erbse, Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem (scholia vetera), vols. 1-5, 7, Berlin: De Gruyter, 1:1969; 2:1971; 3:1974; 4:1975; 5:1977; 7:1988
Quotation
λύσσα γίνεται παρὰ τὸ τὰς σώας λύειν φρένας
Translation (En)
Lussa "rage" comes from the fact it destroys the sound (sôas) mind
Parallels
There is no direct parallel, but there may be a hint at this etymology in Euripides' Orestes, l. 254: ταχὺς δὲ μετέθου λύσσαν, ἄρτι σωφρονῶν "in a moment you are turning mad again, when you were just now sane" (transl. Coleridge) (the compound matches the b Scholion's phrase σώας φρένας)
Modern etymology
Derivative from λύκος "wolf", in its proper meaning "rabies" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Λύσσα is preserved in Modern Greek as 1. the name of the disease, 2. the manic behaviour, 3. the rage, 4. the extremely salty food. There also is verb λυσσάω with all the above meanings, depending on the context.
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional etymology, refining on the traditional derivational etymology by λύειν. Instead of destroying the mind, rage is said to destroy the sound mind. The compound is intended as a VO compound, except that O (the object), is not the noun "mind", but an epithet of the latter, which is not formally part of the etymology, although it is semantically indispensable.